College Graduates Confront Bleak Job Outlook as Unemployment Rises

Fox News ^ | 8/16/2010

[markomalley]

The road to success is filled with a lot more potholes than any college freshman might have imagined four years ago. Welcome, graduate, to the world of very hard knocks.

An average of 9.1 percent of college graduates were unemployed in 2009, up from 5.5 percent in 2005 and 4.4 percent in 2000, according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. For those with some college experience but without a degree, that figure averaged 14.1 percent last year, compared to 21.5 percent of high school graduates with no time on a higher education campus. (For comparison, the current national unemployment rate is 9.5 percent.)

And the bleak economic outlook for the young people isn't limited to the United States, or solely the educated in the U.S., as the International Labor Organization announced last week that of some 620 million economically-active youth aged 15 to 24 years, 81 million were unemployed at the end of 2009 -- the highest number ever and nearly 8 million more than the figure in 2007. The overall youth unemployment rate increased from 11.9 percent in 2007 to 13 percent in 2009.

The less-than-bright economic outlook is forcing some recent college graduates to live with their parents or for current students to consider changing their majors to fields with higher demand.

[Brugmansian]

I read somewhere that it was a “grey” vote that elected 0bama since the young vote, no matter how disproportional, was still relatively small compared to the elder vote.

They mobilized the youth vote. Axelrod had done it in MA when he ran Patrick. Obama lost the over 60 vote 47/51.

The Catholic vote also decided the issue. Obama got 54%. They are the swing vote in American politics.

Before my Catholic friends get upset let me add that, among Catholics who attend Mass one or more times a week, Obama lost in a landslide. He won because of cultural/ethnic Catholics who may not have been to Mass in decades. Pew has the religious vote here

[randog]

Not a good time to be graduating from college!

Seems to be working out for most of them--graduate college, throw a few resumes into the economic hurricane, embrace defeat and move back in with mom (dad optional) and kick back as a proud member of The Leisure Class. And to all those parents who puffed up with pride years ago and declared, "I want my child to have a better life than me!", well, you better be careful what you pray for in the future cuz yer kids are living the good life and you're paying the freight. Enjoy!!

[Perdogg]

thank you for the clarification